Black & White
Electronic Arts/Lionhead StudiosPC
$39.99
Who hasn’t dreamed of playing God? Imagine the power. Imagine the freedom. Imagine the perks. No electric bills. No irate bosses. No interstate construction delays, and best of all — an infinite number of cable channels. How many HBOs does that add up to? Okay, maybe as ruler of the free cosmos, you might have more important things to consider than the season finale of The Sopranos, but with a true universal remote, who would ever leave the house? Actually, according to Lionhead Studios’ most recent release, Black & White, the role of celestial king is more akin to that of city manager than any Fantasy Island power trip Ricardo Montalban might have enjoyed. As leader of Eden, the gorgeously crafted world of B&W, you control everything from the mundane inner workings of a local harvest to the very souls of the people you command. As a control interface, you maneuver across Eden by way of a big, floating god hand located at the bottom of your screen. With these five fingers, you can create the minions who will construct your world. From breeders and fishermen to craftsmen and foresters, it takes a lot of resource balancing to maintain the flow of your economy. Unfortunately, the mouse controls of the game take a lot of getting used to, so expect a steep learning curve before you really get the hang of flinging villagers over yonder mountaintop. If this backdrop sounds familiar to all of you Age of Empires players out there, rest assured, all similarities end here. B&W is not a game of armies of pike men and catapults screaming across the battlefield. In fact, much of the fighting in the game occurs between giant creatures: a cow, a monkey, or a tiger. Sound strange? It is in the beginning, but as you “raise” your giant creature from a flatulent, disobedient calf to a mighty, miracle-casting titan, the pride of ownership far outstrips the quizzical looks of passerby roommates. But to reduce B&W to the pigeonhole of a simple empire-building game greatly diminishes its scope. It is, by all accounts, like playing God. And like any self-respecting god of myth, your true motivation here is to expand your influence and number of worshippers. Whether you accomplish this through benevolent acts of kindness or cruel misdeeds of destruction, you will no doubt enjoy an ego trip through a wondrous world filled with meticulously crafted music, and some of the best voice talent you could hope for.
This article appears in June 8 • 2001.